1:53pm – The Tigers met Nishi for negotiations on November 16. It was their first meeting. They may have offered a multi-year contract worth about 250 million yen a year. Discussions reportedly focused more on expectations and general team goals than money. The meeting lasted thirty to forty minutes. Sponichi 11/17/2018 … The Hawks met Nishi in Osaka on November 15. … Nikkan Sports 11/17/2018 … The Hawks’ offer may have been four years and about 1.5 billion yen. Source: Sanspo 11/17/2018

11:43am – Latest offer rumors: Orix reportedly started at four years and 800 million yen and pushed up to four years and one billion yen to stay competitive (Daily Sports 11/15/2018); Softbank could go up to four years and two billion yen (Sports Hochi 11/15/2018). … Orix is open to sitting down with Nishi again. Sanspo 11/15/2018

11/9/2018

12:03pm – The Dragons usually stay away from bidding wars and this may be no exception. With Softbank and Hanshin expected to make fairly strong offers, the Dragons might decide to avoid the process from the start. Sanspo 11/9/2018

Nishi is apparently planning to exercise his option. He could file as early as today. The Orix Buffaloes’ offer may have been four years. The salary might be around 200 million yen. Daily Sports 11/5/2018, Sponichi 11/5/2018

2:50am – Maru sat down with the Carp for about an hour on November 19. He told reporters he wanted to make sure he got all the information he needed from Hiroshima before he started meeting other teams. Sanspo 11/19/2018, Daily Sports 11/19/2018

11/19/2018

6:27am – Sports Hochi seems to think the Marines could offer up to six years at 2.4 billion yen. They might be able to push the package up to 3.0 billion after incentives. Sports Hochi 11/19/2018 … Daily Sports still has their guess at four years and 2.0 billion yen. Daily Sports 11/19/2018

Maru might be will to go up to 2.5 billion yen. Lotte might be willing to go up to 2 billion. Sponichi 11/6/2018 … ZakZak mentions two rumors: his family may have already moved to the Tokyo area and he may be looking for at least five years. ZakZak 11/6/2018

11/4/2018

The Carp’s offer might be four years at around 1.7 billion yen. The Giants might be putting together a deal that is worth about 2.5 billion yen. The Carp are okay with keeping negotiations open even if Maru exercises the option. Sponichi 11/4/2018, Sanspo 11/4/2018, Nikkan Sports 11/5/2018

11:50pm – The Rakuten Ealges could be high on Asamura’s list. Former teammates Naoto Watanabe, General Manager Kazuhisa Ishii, and Takayuki Kishi. He has also gotten close to Takahiro Norimoto. Tokyo Sports 11/6/2018 … Asamura is slated to hold a press conference on November 7. Daily Sports 11/6/2018 … Possible offers: Rakuten four years at 1.6 billion yen or more. Softbank at least three years at 1.5 billion yen. Orix could go up to four years, but three years at 1.5 billion yen. Seibu three years at 1.5 billion yen. Sports Hochi 11/6/2018 … 4:39am – The Lions posted a notice on November 5 that Asamura is planning to exercise his option. Seibu 11/5/2018 … 4:05am – Seibu officials met Asamura on November 5. Asamura told them he wanted to exercise his option to test the free agent waters. Nikkan Sports 11/5/2018, Sponichi 11/5/2018, Sponichi 11/5/2018

Asamura is interested in testing the waters and will most likely exercise his option. The Lions first offer may have been three years at 1.2 billion yen, followed by three years at 1.5 billion yen. Sanspo 11/4/2018, Nikkan Sports 11/5/2018 … The Softbank Hawks are very interested in Asamura. Sanspo 11/4/2018

11:29pm – The Giants might be the current front runner. Tokyo Sports 11/6/2018 … 3:58am – Sumitani met team officials and November 5. The Lions already offered him a multi-year deal and again asked him to stay. He thanked the team for their offer and said he still wanted to test the free agent waters and planned to exercise his option. Nikkan Sports 11/5/2018, Nikkan Sports 11/5/2018 … The Giants are still very much interested. They have options at catcher (Shinnosuke Abe also wants to do more catching again), but Sumitani could provide more stability. Nikkan Sports 11/5/2018